Electrical connector socket



May 8, 1962 A. BLAlN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR SOCKET Filed Jan. 25, 1957 24FIG. 2.

INVENTOR Albert Bloin FIG. 4.

BY 5% 6T AGENT 3 034 093 ELECTRICAL coNisEcToR sooner Albert Blain,Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Sperry Rand Corporation, New York, N.Y.,a corporation of Dela- Ware Filed Jan. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 636,295 12Claims. (Cl. 339176) disposed on circuit boards which may be readilyinstalled and removed from racks provided for mounting purposes. Suchinstallations must, by their very nature, be associated with connectorstructures capable of sup plying power and input signals to a particularcircuit board, and capable further of taking output signals from saidcircuit; and it is also often required that a plurality of circuitboards be interconnected with one another to provide an overall circuitarrangement more complex than that present on a single circuit board.

' Connectors suggested for these uses heretofore have been subject to anumber of disadvantages; and in particular, it has been found that suchconnectors do not operate efiiciently when, for some reason, the circuitboard should become warped. Moreover, these prior connectors have oftenrequired special mounting apparatus which complicates the overallinstallation; and said prior connectors have been subject to the furtherdisad vantages that, due to their construction, dirt or moisture may beentrapped adjacent contact points thereby providing one or more highresistance or open contacts. A further undesirable feature of such priorconnectors has been that they are relatively expensive, do not permitfor ready variation in 'the positions of the connectors themselves; anddo not permit full visual and electrical inspection of each contactwhile it is in actual engagement with the circuit board.

The present invention serves to obviate the foregoing difficulties andprovides an improved connector assembly wherein the connectorsthemselves may be readily disposed at varying locations on a supportingstructure thereby to permit a custom connector assembly to be readilyfabricated for use in a particular circuit, from standard components.The connectors of the present invention are further so constructed thatthey do not entrap dirt or moisture, permit ready visual and electricalinspection of the contacts themselves while in use, and maintain equalcontact pressure on both sides of a printed circuit board regardless ofWarpage in that board.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide animproved connector assembly, particularly adapted for use as an edgeconnector on printed circuit boards.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of animproved connector assembly which is less expensive to manufacture thanother connectors suggested heretofore.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provisionof a connector assembly comprising a supporting structure having aplurality of contact thereon so arranged that the said contacts exhibitfree motion with respect to the supporting sructure, whereby the overallassembly maintains its grip without loss of grip pressure even on abadly warped printed circuit board,

. Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of aconnector assmbly fabricated of a plurality of standard components andadapted to be readily assembled and disassembled whereby customconnector ts ateint ice assemblies may be readily for use in theprovision of electrical connections toany given printed circuit board.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provisionof an improved connector assembly so arranged that it may be mounted inthe same guide rails or other mounting structures utilized for mountinga printed circuit board itself, whereby the necessity of providingspecial connector mounting and supporting structures is obviated.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provisionof an improved connector assembly wherein the electrical contacts havean open type construction thereby minimizing the possibility ofdirt ormoisture entrapment.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provisionof an improved connector assembly adapted to interconnect a plurality ofcircuit boards with one another and/or adapted to provide electricalinput or output connections from a given circuit board.

In providing for the foregoing objects and advantages, the presentinvention contemplates the provision of an improved connector assemblycomprising an elongated supporting strip of insulating material carryinga plurality of electrical contact elements thereon. In accordance with aparticular feature of the present invention, the said insulating stripis adapted to be mounted in substantially coplanar relation with aprinted circuit board, whereby the said board and connector assembly maybe supported in common guide rail normally provided for support of theboard itself. The said insulating strip or supporting structurecomprises, in accordance'with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a pair of strip elements each of which has a toothed orotherwise irregular edge; and the dimensions of the teeth on each stripare so related to the inter-teeth spaces on said strips that when thetwo strips are juxtaposed along their irregular or toothed edges, aplurality of apertures are provided for supporting said contactelements.

The said contact elements in turn comprise a supporting portion adaptedfor insertion in one of the aforementioned apertures; and thissupporting portion carries at its two ends a pair of resilient contactelements lying substantially parallel to one another and to the plane ofthe assembled insulating strip. The said contact elements may takevarious configurations, as will be described, and in accordance with oneform of the invention, the two contact elements are caused to extendbeyond an outer edge of their mounting structure, and are thereafterbent toward one another to provide a resilient jaw adapted forengagement with the edge of a printed circuit board; the other ends ofsaid contact elements being adapted to receive one of more electricalconnections such as wire leads. In accordance with a further embodimentof the present invention, the jaw structure mentioned previously isprovided at both ends of the said contact elements whereby the connectorassembly is adapted to interconnect a plurality of circuit boards.

. In each of these embodiments, the cont-act elements are so supportedby the aforementioned supporting element that they exhibit free motionon either side of the center mounting strip of the assembly, thereby toassure that positive and uniform contact pressure is maintainedregardless of Warpage in the printed circuit board itself.

, The foregoing objects, advantages, construction and operation of thepresentinvention will become more readily apparent from the followingdescription and accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates one form of connector assembly constructed inaccordance with the present invention, as

r v employed in interconnecting a plurality of circuit boards andinexpensively fabricatedv said boards.

' edges of the strips 11 and 12.

as well as in providing FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of a connectorassembly 7 per se, of the type shown in FIGURE 1. V .1 {FIGURE 3illustrates one form oi insulating strip construotedin accordance withthe present invention.

FIGURE 4 illustrates another form of insulating strip constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a clamp constructed inaccordancelwith the present invention and adapted for use in theconnector assemblies of FIGURES 1 and 2 FIGURE 6 is an end view of acontact element constructed in accordance with one form of the presentinvention.

external electrical connectionsto 7 elongated connector elements 19 and20 attached to the V outer ends thereof. In actual practice, elements18,19 and Zii'are integrally attached to one another, and may I befabricated by a-single stamping operation adapted to FIGURE 7 is a sideview of the contact element shown inFJGURE 6; 7 a 7 FIGURE 8 is a sideview of another contact element constructed in accordance with thepresent invention; and

FIGURE 9jis an end view of the contact element shown in FIGURE 8.

Referring now'to the several figures, it will be seen.

that, in accordance with the present invention, a connector assembly,generally designated 10, comprises a pair of insulating strips 11 and12, each of which has a toothed or otherwise irregular edge. As shown.in FIGURE 3, the several teeth 1'3 of each strip 11 or{12 may, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention, be

- substantially rectangular in configuration; and these teeth [betweenthe widths of the several teeth and interteeth spaces causes theformation of a plurality of apertures '15 intermediate each tooth on oneof the strips and the 7 two, adjacent .teeth on the other of saidstrips. As is illustrated in FIGURE 2, the several apertures 15 areelongated in configuration, lie parallel to one another,

provide a substantially H-shaped structure, with the legs of the Hultimately providing contact portions 19 and 2t); and with the cross armof the l-l ultimately providing central's'upporting element 18, byanappropriate bending operation. The contacts themselves may befabricated of various conductive materials; and by way of example,actual contacts constructed in accordance with the present inventionhave been fabricated of .017:.OG15 Phosphor bronze one-half hard.

The central supporting element 1 8 of each contact 16 is adapted to besupported by one of the slots 15, already described; and in general anoverall connector assembly would be fabricated by disposing one or morecontact elements 16 and/ or one or more contact element 17 .(to bedescribed) adjacent to strips such as 11 and 12 when such strips arespaced from one another; whereafter the two strips would be juxtaposedthereby to firmly clamp central supporting elements 18 therebetween.When so assembled, connector portions 19 and 2091: each element 16 liegenerally parallel to one another and parallel to the opposite faces ofcentral mounting strip lit-12; and, in the case of elementld, bothopposed ends of portions 19 a'nd20 are bent toward one another, as at 21and 22, thereby to provide a pair of resilient jaws spaced, beyond theouter free edges of mounting strip 11 .12. It will be noted that by thisdisposition, each of the contact portions 19and 72%} has ,free motion oneither side of the central mounting strip 11-12, whereby thelcontactjaws 21 and 2 2 maintain their grip without loss of grip and extendgenerally transverse to the elongated outer However, it will beappreciated that other configurations and dispositions of the severalapertures may be effected by appropriate choice of the edgeconfigurations of strips 11 and 12.

It will moreover "be appreciated that the rectangular tooth andintertooth space configuration, shown in FIG- URES 1 through 3, is notmandatory, and a possible alternative construction in accordance withthe present invention is illustrated in FIGURE 4. In this particulararrangement, the strip 11a has a plurality of teeth 13a which aregenerally triangular in configuration; and the intertooth spaces 14abetween the several teeth 13a, are

also of substantially triangular configuration but are, as was the casein the arrangement of FIGURE 3, somewhat larger in dimension than teeth1311. By this arrangement, therefore, the juxtaposition of twoinsulating strips one or more electrical contact elements. These contactelements may assume various forms, and one particular form designated16, is adapted to provide interconnection between a plurality of circuitboards; while another general form designated 17, is adapted to permitexternal connections to be provided to a given circuit board.

Contact elements 16 are shown in greater detail in FIGURES 6 and 7; andthese elements in general com,

prise a central supporting portion 18 having a'pair of 35 pressure on aprinted circuit board, even though that board-might be badly warped.

Elements of the types thus described in reference to FIGURES 6 and 7 maybe readily employed for interconnecting circuit boards into a morecomplex circuit. This particular consideration is illustrated in FIGURE1, and it will be seen that printed circuit boards such as 23 and 24 maybe disposed in generally coplanar relation one another, in a commonmounting structure such as guide rails 25 and 26. The connector assembly10 is interposed between the said boards 23 and 24 in generally coplanarrelation with each, whereby connector assembly 10 may also be supportedby the same guide rails 25 and 25 which are utilized to support boards23 and 24. Each of the boards 23 or 24 may have at least 'one printedcircuit thereon of any desired configuration;

and these printed circuits may include a number of conductive deposits,such as 27, adjacent the edges of said boards on one or both sidesthereof. 7 When such boards are therefore inserted in the outer jaws 21and 22 (see FIGURE 6), of connector elements .16, electrical continuitybetween the boards isestablished; and this continuity is maintained eventhough one or both of the boards should shift in position or be warped.

As mentioned previously, external electrical connections may be readilyprovided to a given circuit board by utilizing a slightly modifiedconnector of the type designated 17; and such external connectionshavebeen designated 28 in the arrangement of FIGURE 1. The actual connector17 which permits such electrical connections to be provided, isillustrated in greaterdetail in FIGURES 8 and 9. In particular, it willbe noted that this modified connector assembly again employs a centralsupporting element 18a having a' pair of connector elements 19a and 20aattached thereto, whereby insertion of central element 18a into one ofthe slots 15 in the central mounting strip 10 causes connector POI"?tions 19a and 20a to lie generally parallel to the opposite faces ofsaid strip 10 in a manner similar to that described in reference toconnectors 16. As before, ele- 'ments 19a and 20a extend beyond an outeredge of central mounting strip 10 and are caused to be bent toward oneanother as at 21a, thereby to provide a resilient jaw for engaging aconductive deposit 27 'on a circuit board such as 23 or 24.

The other ends of elements 19a and 2011 are not bent toward one another,however, but are caused to extend, preferably beyond the other outeredge of mounting strip 11-42, in generally parallel relation to oneanother, as at 29 and 30, whereby external connections may be made toconnector 17 at either or both of points 29 and 30, for instance bycrimping a sleeve-like connection over one or both of these particularextension points.

It will be appreciated that clamping means shouldbe provided to maintainthe overall connector assembly in assembled relation. One preferred formof such a clamp ing means is shown in FIGURE 5. This particular clampincludes an elongated portion 31 having a pair of depending portions 32and 33 at the ends thereof, whereby bent around the outer edges of thesestrips to hold the 7 strips in firm juxtaposed relation. The clamp meansfurther includes a central depending tongue 34 adapted for insertioninto one of the slots 15; and this tongue has several functions. First,it assures that the clamp means does not shift along the mounting strip19; secondly, by causing the strip 34 to be bent over a tooth such as 13in one of the mounting strips 11 and 12, it provides a further clamppoint intermediate the outer clamp points provided by portions 32 and33; and thirdly, it acts as a spacing element in that it positivelypositions strips 11 and 12 relative to one another, thereby topredetermine the size and location of the several slots 15. The clampmeans also includes a recess 35 in its uppermost portion 31 to assurethat only a single slot 15 is occupied by the clamp; and it will beappreciated from an examination of FIGURES 1 and 2, for instance, that afurther connector such as 16 or 17 may be supported on the connectorassembly in a slot 15 disposed adjacent recess 35 of the clampingbracket.

As is illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, two clamping brackets designated36 and 37 may be utilized adjacent the opposing elongated ends of thecomposite central mounting structure 10, but further clamping means maybe disposed between clamp elements 36 and 37, if desired. Moreover, aswill be seen froma comparison of FIGURES l and 2, the clamping means 36and 37 may be inserted from either side of the composite centralmounting strip 1112.

It will be appreciated that the particular clamping means 36 and 37,which are illustrated in detail in FIG- URE 5, are illustrative only andother clamp structures may be employed. In particular, the tongue 34 maybe eliminated and other forms of spacing and strip positioning means maybe employed, although the particular structure already described inreference to FIGURE 5 is preferred by reason of its simplicity.

The connector assemblies thus described may, of course, be readilyassembled and disassembled; and the contact elements 16 and 17 may beplaced at varying positions along the central mounting strip inaccordance with the particular requirements of a specific circuit. Itwill moreover be appreciated that due to the freely spaced relationshipof connector portions, such as 19 and 20, with respect to centralmounting strip 1112, there is little likelihood of moisture or dirtentrapment; and, as Will be seen from the arrangement of FIGURE 1, thecontacts themselves may be readily inspected even while in actual use inconnection with one or more printed circuit boards. Moreover, due to thecoplanar relation of connector assembly 19 to boards 23 and 24, theconnector assembly is supported by the same guide slots or mountingstructure as are provided for supporting the circuit boards themselves;and this particular consideration greatly reduces the structural re-.have already, been described. Other variations will become readilyapparent to those skilled in the art. By way of example, the two strips10 and 11 may be so constructed that one of said strips has asubstantially straight edge and the other of said strips has a slottedor otherwise irregular edge, whereby juxtaposition of said strips againdefines the plurality of apertures 15 due primarily to the slots orirregularities in the edge of one strip only. It must, therefore, bestressed .that the foregoing description is meant to be illustrativeonly and should not be considered limitative of my invention. All suchvariations and modifications as are in accord with the principlesdescribed are meant to fall within the scope of the appended claims. t..I

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a pair of flat insulating strips each of which hasopposedsubstant-ially planar sides which are wider than the thickness ofsaid strips whereby each said flat strip defines a relatively thin edgebetween the planar sides thereof, each of said strips having a toothedconfiguration along the thin edge thereof, said flatstrips beingdisposed in juxtaposed substantially coplanar relation to one anotheralong their relatively thin toothed edges, and an electrical connectorelement supported by said juxtaposed strips, said connector elementincluding a supporting element extending-transverse to the substantiallycommon plane of said strips and gripped between said toothed edges ofsaid juxtaposed strips, said connector element also including a pair ofelongated substam tially planar conductive elements each having acentrally located section of one side attached to one of the opposedends. of said supporting element and extending in substantially parallelplanar relation to one another adjacent and substantially parallel tothe opposite relatively wide planar sides of said fiat insulating stripsrespectively.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said strips support a plurality ofsaid connector elements withthe elongated conductive elements thereofbeing disposed sub stantially parallel to one another.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the opposite ends of each of saidelongated conductive elements extend beyond the outer edges of saidinsulating strips, corresponding ends of said pair of conductiveelements being bent toward one another whereby said pair of conductiveelements define a pair of resilient conductive jaws.

located respectively beyond both outer edges of said juxtaposedinsulating strips.

4. The combination of claim'l wherein one pair of corresponding ends ofsaid elongated conductive elements extends beyond the outer edge of oneof said insulating strips and are bent toward one another whereby saidcorresponding ends define a resilient jaw therebetween, and the otherpair of corresponding ends of said conductive elements are substantiallyplanar and extend in parallel spaced relation beyond the outer edge ofthe other of said insulating strips whereby an electrical conductor maybe attached to at least one of said conductive elements at a positionremote from said j-aw.

5. in combination, a pair of substantially planar insulator members eachof which has an elongated relatively thin edge including a plurality ofspaced teeth, the widths of at least portions of said teeth being lessthan the spaces between adjacent ones of said teeth, means for clampingsaid insulator members in juxtaposed relation along their elongatedtoothed edges with the teeth of each member being inserted into theinterteeth spaces of the other of said members whereby a plurality ofapertures spaced from one another along said elongated edges of saidmembers are provided, said apertures being located at said less wideportions of said teeth, each of said apertures being'elongagted in in adirection transyerse to the direction of elongation of said elongatededge, and a plurality of electrical connector elements respectivelyinserted into said apertures and supported in spaced relation to oneanother by said clamped juxtaposed insulator members, eachof saidconconfiguration with said apertures being disposed substantiallyparallel to one another nector'elements including a substantially:planarsupporting portion fnserted into one of saidlapertures and alsoincluding a substantially planar connector portion attached s to saidsupporting portion at a position external of said posed insulatormembers, the'opposed ends of said clamp member being bent adjacent theouter edges of said'ina sulator members, said clamping member includinga portion extendinginto one of said apertures.

9. In combination, a pair of relatively wide elongated planar insulatorstrips, at least one of said strips having thereby to define a pair ofopposed V of'a circuit structure.

an irregular relatively thin elongated edge, said strips be-' 7 ingjuxtaposed alongsaid irregular edge thereby to form,

a substantially planar insulator structure. of appreciably greaterwidth'than thickness having a plurality of spaced apertures definedrespectively by spacings in said irregular edge,'and1a plurality ofconductive elements mounted in spaced relation to one another on saidinsulator structure,

5 each of-said conductive elements including a supporting{portion-"inserted into "one of said apertures and further including atleast one resilient electrical connector portion attached to saidsupporting portion and extending substantially parallel to the plane ofsaid planar insulatorstruoture, resilient connector portion beingattached to said supporting portion at a position spaced vfrom thesurfacefof said insulator structure whereby said connector portion isadapted to move relatively freely with respect to said insulatorstructure.

*10. In combination, a substantially planar insulator 7 member having anelongated edge andhav-ing a plurality V of variable size aperturesspaced from one another along a line'disposed substantially parallel tosaid edge, said insulator member being separable into a plurality ofparts along said line, clamping means for maintaining said separableparts in a predetermined spatial relationship, and a plurality ofelectrical'connector elements supported in substantially parallelrelation to one another by said insulator member, each of said connectorelements iricluding a supporting element extending transverse to saidmember through one of said apertures, each of saidconnector elementsfurther including ,a pair of. elongated resilient terminal elementsattached to said supporting ele-v ment adjacent to and spaced from theopposed surfaces of said planar insulator member, said terminal elementsextending substantially parallel to one another and toy the plane ofsaid insulator member in spaced relation to said surfaces of saidinsulator member whereby said terminal elements are adapted to'flexrelatively freely adjacent the opposed sides of said insulator member,each of said pairs of terminal elements including portions extendingbeyond said elongated edge of said insulator member jaws for thereception 11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said clamping meansincludes a spacer element inserted into one of said aperturesforposition-ing said plurality of parts relative to one another todetermine the size of said apertures whereby saidsupporting elements maybe positively retained. 4

l2. Atermiual strip comprising a plurality of contact elements, each ofsaid contact elements including a supporting portion and a pairof planarcontact portions. substantially parallel toone another and perpendicularto said supporting portion', said supporting portion and said pair ofresilient contact portions having a' unitary construction such that saidpair of contact portions provides a pair of resilient terminals at eachend of said supporting portion, and a pair of insulator strip elementshaving mating irregular edges, said irregular edges having dimensionssuch that there are a'pluralityof apertures produced when said stripsare in juxtaposed coplanar relation at said ir-. regular edges, saidapertures-being adapted to receive and firmly retain a substantiallycentrally located segment of said supporting portion, said insulatorstrip elements having dimensions such that said pair of terminals ateach end of said contact element extend beyond the outer edges of saidstrip. 1 Relferences Cited in the file-of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS Guttman May 1, 1906 1,615,168 Doppke Jan. 18, 1927 2,071,713Terrill Feb.23, 19 7 2,317,710 Anderson Apr. 27, 1943 2,441,393 Buchananet a1. May 1 1, 1948 2,581,967 Mitchell Ian, 8, 1952 2,641,747 IohansonJune 9, 1953 2,724,095 Rudner Nov. 15, 1955 2,730,683 Ayers et a1. Ian.10, 1956 2,799,837 Powell July 16, 1957 2,853,689 Jackson et al. Sept.23, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 580,001 Great Britain Aug. 23, 1946 644,540Great Britain Oct. 11, 19

